Kasia Alexa Days: Third Quarter
by MELodramatic MELodie
Summary: Sequel to KD: It's Full Moon Again. Kasia Days is a werewolf, and in her third and fourth year at Hogwarts, and she deals with her family, her friends and the beginning of a little romance. Everything is even more complicated with what happens every full moon. The next generation, look out for familiar names! Highly recommended you read the first story before reading this one.
1. The Lost Letters

**Chapter  
-1-  
**

**The Lost Letters**

Kasia Alexa Days was a werewolf. In fact, when she'd been infected at the age of six, her mother had disowned her, and she had come to live with the Woods. It was complicated. She had thought she was a Muggleborn until her younger sister Anelia had come to Hogwarts too, a year after Kasia. She then spent her second year trying to find out as much as she could about her father, Marvell Days. In fact, it was only a few months earlier that she learned that she had a middle name. Alexa came from her great aunt, and her sister's middle name – Pierette – came from her great aunt's twin. But that was a long story.

In the summer of Kasia's thirteenth year, Anelia was staying over at the Wood's for a week. Kasia could not be more overjoyed at this, especially since she had doubted that Ramona – her mother – would've let her. It was on Anelia's last day, after lunch, when her little sister came up to her.

"Kasia, can I talk to you?" Anelia said seriously. Kasia nodded, yawning. The full moon was that night.

"Sure."

"Alone?"

Kasia's brow wrinkled, but they went up to her bedroom.

"What's up?" Kasia noticed something. "What're those?"

Anelia looked nervous. It almost reminded Kasia of the way she used to always get frightened.

"Look, I...I found these when I was looking for my rain boots," Anelia said slowly, watching Kasia as she handed a pile of letters over.

"What...?" Kasia started, shuffling through them. There had to be at least nine of them. And they were addressed to _her_. Not just _Kasia Days, _though. _Kasia Alexa Days._

"Alexa?" Kasia was confused. Nobody knew that she had a middle name besides herself, her three closest friends, Anelia and Donaghan Tremlett.

"Come talk to me when you're done. If you want," Anelia said softly, before leaving the room. Kasia's curiosity boiled inside her. She almost didn't want to open the letters. Finally, she decided to open the one dated most recently, to be opened on the 13th of October. Her birthday.

_Dear Kasia,_

_Happy fourteenth birthday! From the moment I saw you, when you were born with your mum's hair and our violet eyes, I knew you were going to be a beautiful young lady one day._

Kasia stopped reading. "_Our _violet eyes?" she whispered to herself, unable to believe who was writing the letter. It had to be her grandmother. She inherited her purple eyes from the Selwyn side of the family.

_And I only wish I was there to see it happen. _

"It's my grandmother," Kasia assured herself, "my father's dead, it's got to be my grandmother."

_My father keeps telling me I should stop writing you letters, seeing as you never reply, and it 'puts me in a mood', as he puts it. But in a way, it keeps me sane. Writing these letters every year keeps me from forgetting my biggest mistake: not telling your mother that I'm a wizard before I married her. Then you could've grown up with a father. That may seem masochistic, to want to write these letters, but when I picture you it makes me as happy as I get here, although mum says I seem content when I'm studying the animals. I've said before what I do here, but if you're ever interested...please feel free to reply. I know I've said it before, and I realise you might be angry at me, but if you'd just give me a chance, we could get to know each other. I'd love to show you the research I found. You loved hearing about magical creatures when you were three._

_Lots of love, Dad._

Dad. The word jumped off the page. Kasia couldn't believe it. This wasn't a letter written before he died. This was recent. Kasia's throat felt strange. Constricted, and the breath choked. Without thinking about it, Kasia ripped open the letter from a year before. Her thirteenth birthday. "_Finally a teenager!" _"_If you need any advice of what subjects to choose, Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes are the best." _"_If you want, you can write back. Anything would be alright._"

By the time she got to the letter from her eleventh birthday, Kasia had tears streaming down her face for the first time since she was in St Mungo's hospital.

_Dear Kasia,_

_It's hard to believe that you'll be going to Hogwarts this year. Happy eleventh birthday, Kasia. It's a special year. It's a huge regret of mine that I couldn't get to see you grow up. I try not to dwell on it too much in these letters, but you haven't once replied, and, after what I did, I deserve that. It's entirely my fault for not telling your mother about magic sooner. I should've handled it differently. I only hope you still continue to read these letters, for it is that small hope that keeps me writing them. I'm sure your first year at Hogwarts will be magical and you'll do amazingly. Don't make your sister too jealous._

_Even if you won't forgive me, I beg you to reply at least with a "I'm still here" or something. Please._

_Love, Dad._

Kasia's sobs filled the room and she clutched the letter to her chest. Her father was alive. He was real. He missed her, wanted to see her.

He thought she'd forgotten him.

She read the other letters, down to the one for her fourth birthday, which was simple-worded and had a request to allow someone to read it out for her.

In every single one, there was that hopeless sentence, asking her to reply. To forgive him.

Kasia cried for hours straight. She couldn't stop. Her father was alive, shouldn't she be happy?

Finally, when her tears had run dry, and she just sat there with her knees gathered tightly, re-reading the letters, Kasia heard a soft knock on the door.

"Zia, we're seeing your sister off now. Are you coming?

It was James Potter's voice. Kasia stayed silent.

"Can I come in?"

"N-no!" Kasia said loudly, her voice broken.

"Kasia, is something wrong?"

"I'm fine!" she called, her voice betraying her.

Silence. "Can I come in?" His voice was softer, now.

Kasia thought about it. She would talk to Anelia later. Demeter Wood, her adoptive sister, would be too sympathetic. Demi's older brother Apollo wouldn't know what to do. She would feel weird talking about it with Katie and Oliver at this stage.

"Okay."

Kasia wiped her cheeks dry and gathered herself. James walked slowly up to her and sat down beside her, leaning against the bed.

"Do you want to talk about it?" James asked uncomfortably. Tears welled up again and Kasia let them out, silently crying. James looked alarmed.

"I don't think I've ever seen you cr−hey, now!"

Kasia leaned on James, burying her face into his chest. James slowly put his arm around her.

"It's – it's okay."

She could tell he felt awkward, but it was comforting nonetheless. "My dad's alive," she whispered finally. Before he could reply, she handed him the letters.

"Kasia..." he began softly when he was finished.

"He's been alive all this time," Kasia went on, shaking, "he's been sending letters, every birthday I've ever had. He thinks I'm mad at him...or ignoring him..."

Breathing heavily, Kasia's eyes widened slightly. "All because I didn't get the letters. Because Ramona hid them."

James looked worried as she sat upright, removing his arm from her. "How do you know that?"

"Anelia said she found them," Kasia breathed, her fists clenching, "Ramona intercepted them. Because she wanted us to think he was dead...my own father. She had no right..."

She stood up suddenly and whipped around to James. "You said we were seeing Anelia off?"

James nodded, his eyes wide. "Kasia, you've got to calm down."

Kasia snarled at him. "I haven't _got to _calm down."

She walked towards the door and down the stairs, James following her.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to have a word with my dear mother," Kasia growled.

Five minutes later, Kasia and Anelia were on the front lawn of the old house. It looked much the same. The weeds had grown over the geraniums that once flowered.

"Kasia, are you sure you want to do this?" Anelia asked, worried. Kasia's expression was stony. They had caught the Knight Bus together.

"You got letters too, didn't you?" Kasia said furiously, "She told us our father was dead."

And she rang the doorbell, seething. After about ten seconds, Ramona opened the door. She looked exactly as Kasia remembered, and when her mother saw her, Ramona's expression was as familiar as ever.

"You!"

"Me!" Kasia snarled, and held up the letters. "Care to explain?"

Ramona's expression became defensive. "I hid them from the two of you."

"_Why?_"

"Because you were better off thinking your father was dead!"

"Better off?" Kasia repeated, beside herself. "What is so bad about our father? Yeah, he kept it a secret that he was a wizard, so what? He wasn't a different person because of that, and he pretty much gave up his world to be with you!"

"How did you...?"

"So you kept us from our own father because of your own selfish reasons?" Kasia went on. "What kind of a monster are you? You had _no _right to keep our father from us!"

Kasia started to shake. Her mind was racing faster than ever. A small part of it reminded her what day it was.

"I'm not the monster!" Ramona insisted, narrowing her eyes to slits. "Would you look at yourself? You're lucky I even let Anelia stay with you!"

Kasia growled. Some part of her registered that it was sunset, and it was a full moon. She hadn't taken her potion. She'd felt this once before, when she was resting in the common room too late. Her skin bristled, and her anger multiplied. For once, she didn't want it to stop. She was mad.

"Stop!" Anelia screamed, pushing Kasia back. "Kasia, what are you doing?"

_Crack!_

It was Oliver. "Are you out of your mind, Kasia?"

She was close to transforming. So close. Nothing going on around her meant anything. Suddenly she was being sucked into the air, into nothingness, and arrived at home with the sound of a gunshot.

"Katie!" Oliver bellowed, holding Kasia's shoulders, which were shaking.

Through her rage, Kasia saw Katie running out of the house with a potion in her hands. She saw James, Demi and Apollo behind them, their faces shocked. As soon as the potion took its effect, Kasia ran for the woods, faster than she ever had before. Almost as fast as when she was a werewolf. And the next moment, she was.

**oOo**

She remembered running. She remembered being glad that she had gotten the potion in time. She remembered thinking of her father, and swiping at a small tree, watching it fall.

She woke up in the woods, exhausted.

Kasia was ashamed. At dawn, she wandered back, her feet and heart heavy. She was a monster. Sometimes she could convince herself otherwise, but that was just the truth.

It was long after sunrise before she finally went inside and managed to drag her feet up the stairs and to her bed. And then the tears fell. There was no sobbing, just tears.

Her father was alive. Kasia's anger at Ramona was still there, but it was far eclipsed by that fact.

She'd had two different mindsets about not crying since St Mungo's. The first was pride. After all she'd been through; she was strong enough not to cry. The second was worry. Crying was supposed to be a good way of dealing with emotions. She had even tried a few times to cry, but she couldn't.

So now, Kasia couldn't tell if she was pleased or afraid that she was crying. James had just seemed shocked when he saw her cry the day before.

Her mind grew weary of thinking, and she drifted off to sleep, tears drying on her cheeks.

The next morning she woke up just before lunch, and started downstairs.

"Have you ever seen her cry?"

Kasia froze. It was James' voice.

"She was crying?" Fred Weasley's voice, in disbelief. "Does she ever cry?"

"No. Not when she found out about Anelia, not even when you found out she was a werewolf," Demi answered, her voice serious. Kasia narrowed her eyes.

"I didn't really know what to do," James said softly.

"What _did _you do?" Demi asked dangerously.

"She sort of...cried into my shirt, so I put my arm around her. Like a side-hug."

"Did you say anything?"

"I said 'it's okay'. That's about it."

"That's _it? _James, you are hopeless."

"What's wrong with that?"

"What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing," Kasia said loudly, walking down the stairs. All three of them looked shocked and guilty at the sight of her.

"You didn't do anything wrong, James," Kasia assured him, "the reason I let you in was because I knew Demi would want to talk about it, Apollo wouldn't know what do to and it would be awkward with Katie or Oliver, at this stage."

James looked proud of himself.

"What about me?" Fred demanded, pretending to look offended. Kasia raised an eyebrow.

"Well, for one, you weren't here. Two, you'd probably run screaming from my room if you saw me cry."

Fred nodded. "True."

"You can call them mum and dad, Kasia," Demi said in a pitying voice. Kasia laughed mentally. That was exactly why she didn't want to talk to Demi.

Kasia shook her head. "No, I can't. I assume James told you two about my father?"

Fred and Demi nodded, and James looked a little guilty. "Yeah, I did. Sorry, Zia."

"It's fine," Kasia waved it off, "I'd rather not have to tell everyone myself. So I can't call your parents mum and dad, Demi, because apparently I've got both a mum _and _a dad."

"Are you alright?" Demi looked concerned, now.

Kasia sighed, and ran a hand through her fringe. "Yes. I'm fine."

"So what are you going to do?" Fred asked eagerly.

Kasia thought about it. "I don't know."

"It's simple!" Fred insisted, "Just reply!"

"This isn't simple," Kasia shook her head, pacing, "this is anything but simple. What do I say to a man who I thought was dead since I was three? I can't explain what happened in a _letter, _of all things. No, this isn't just simple."

"You're right," Demi sighed. "How about you talk to Donaghan Tremlett at King's Cross? He said you could ask him about it after the summer."

"Yeah, alright," Kasia nodded.

Then she thought about it.

"Are you alright?" James asked, looking concerned at the expression on Kasia's face.

A grin pulled at the side of Kasia's mouth. Soon enough she was grinning from ear to ear, and she laughed.

"She's gone," Fred said in horror. Kasia hugged Demi suddenly.

"I've got a father!" Kasia marvelled, "I've got a dad! He's alive, he's real! He wants to see me!"

"Which is why you should just reply," Fred said obviously, looking as relieved as Demi and James that there was a reason she was going mental.

"Shut up!"

**oOo**

Kasia had decided that Donaghan mustn't have known that Kasia thought Marvell was dead, or maybe he just thought Marvell was dead anyway. Whichever the case, she was certain that he would help her out, seeing as her father was one of his closest friends. Thinking of Donaghan reminded her of his son, Nico Tremlett. Last year he'd said that cancer was exclusively a Muggle disease, ruling out that her father had died from that, like Ramona had told her.

"Earth to Kasia," Demi waved her hand in front of Kasia's face, "you'll run into something at this rate."

"If I run into a wall, I'll just hope it's Platform Nine and ¾," Kasia joked, paying more attention, "I'm just excited to ask Don about my dad."

"You're on first name basis with one of the Weird Sisters," Demi sighed.

And when she got onto the platform, she set out to find the Weird Sisters group. It didn't take long, they were so huge.

"Kasia!" Katriel shouted, grinning. "Hey!"

The Weird Sisters group was a weird group. For one, there was all of the members of the former band there, and all of their kids. Zeno Tremlett, and two blonde twins were dancing around the group yelling "Hogwarts! Hogwarts! We're going to Hogwarts!" while seven younger kids followed them jealously. The oldest, Chairo Tremlett, looked as if he was about to silence them all, but Amy Wagtail was convincing him to calm down. Katriel Barbary, in Kasia's grade, was talking to Petra Duke and Nico Tremlett.

Kasia was greeted by most of the gang.

"Can I talk to you about my father?" Kasia asked Donaghan, who nodded.

Kasia told him everything that happened.

"Did you know?" she asked once she was finished. Donaghan snorted.

"Of course! That's why I was so confused about the way you spoke about him. Where did I leave off?"

"Just after you told me how my dad went and met my mother all over again," Kasia grinned, excited.

"Right!" Donaghan laughed. "Now, Ramona hadn't known about magic up until now. But, your dad figured he should tell her before you started showing signs of being a witch. He told her everything. How he met her before, and then met her again. Let's just say she didn't take it well. From her point of view, their whole relationship was based on a lie. So she kicked him out and told him she never wanted to see him again. I suppose that's when she told you he died.

"At this point Marv comes over to my place – this is in the middle of the night, mind you, he nearly woke the kids, and it took _ages _to put all three to sleep – and tells me what happened. He was breaking at the cracks. Not only did he lose Ramona, but he lost you and your sister, too. I told him to go back there and take a stand, but he insisted he would do what your mum wanted. I think he spoke to her once about it, but he respected her wishes for some stupid reason. Mental, right?"

"No kidding," Kasia said with wide eyes.

"So he moved to Scotland with his parents and studied magizoology. He'd always loved that, anyway."

"So how should I go about meeting him?" Kasia asked.

"You couldn't just reply," Donaghan mused, and then his eyes lit up excitedly, "how about you go and visit him?"

"In Scotland?" Kasia gasped, thinking about it. "Out of the blue? Oh, and my grandparents would be there too..."

"Bring him back," Donaghan told her, "I haven't seen the idiot in years. You going to go over the Christmas break?"

She couldn't believe she was making this decision so quickly. "I-I suppose so."

"Excellent," Donaghan grinned, and then looked at her fondly, "he's going to be overjoyed."

With that, he went back to the group, and Kasia went to find her friends.

It didn't take long; they were just getting on the train. They looked at her with anticipating expressions.

"I'll tell you on the train," Kasia grinned, "move along, let's get a compartment."

James stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of what was in front of him.

Teddy Lupin, his hair a bright blue, was standing on the platform, kissing Victoire, who was level with him as she stood on the train. Kasia grinned, and then her grin fell as James started forward.

"James, don't interrupt!"

"Teddy!" James said loudly in disbelief. "What are you _doing?_"

Victoire's skin turned a sweet shade of pink, and Teddy turned to James with a glare.

"What does it look like? I'm seeing Vic off. Go away, James."

James' mouth opened and closed like a goldfish as he walked back to Kasia.

"That was Teddy."

"Yes," Kasia replied, amused.

"Snogging Victoire."

"Yes."

"Teddy and Victoire?" James stressed, maddened at the lack of Kasia's reaction.

Fred suddenly came running up to them. "You'll never believe what I just saw!"

"Teddy?" James exclaimed.

"Snogging _Victoire!_" Fred nodded drastically.

"_Our _Teddy!"

"Snogging _our _Victoire!" Fred agreed, wide eyed. "Our _cousin_!"

"I've got to tell dad." James marvelled. "I've got to tell _mum_! And Albus and Lily! Be right back!"

"You know, sometimes I think he's matured," Kasia mused, "but then I remember he's a thirteen year old boy."

"How are you not shocked right now?" Fred demanded.

"I already knew," Kasia shrugged.

"You already..." Fred was speechless. He was stopped from saying more when Demi rushed up to them breathlessly.

"You'll never believe it!" she squealed.

"Teddy and Victoire were snogging, yes," Kasia smiled, shaking her head. Demi looked thoroughly disappointed.

"Did you already see?"

"I already knew," Kasia clarified. Demi gasped and hit Kasia's arm.

"And you didn't tell me!"

Kasia rolled her eyes. "Calm down, Demi."

Demi sighed happily. "It is _so sweet, _though."

"Here we go," Fred muttered.

"You don't think it's sweet?" Demi said challengingly. Fred puffed out his chest.

"I'm a man. Things aren't _sweet._"

"A man?"

"Yes!"

Demi snorted, and Fred narrowed his eyes.

Finally they found and empty compartment, and James soon joined them, disappointed at his family's lack of reaction.

And Kasia told them what Donaghan had said.

**Hello everyone! See, that didn't take long did it? **

**If you're reading this story and you haven't read Kasia Days: It's Full Moon Again, go read it now! This chapter will make a lot more sense. Because I'm writing in a way that assumes you know what happened last time. And hello! Hope you like it!**

**For the old readers, welcome back! This was an eventful chapter, huh? They didn't even make it to Hogwarts! And yet it's one of the longer chapters.**

**Please review, it really doesn't take long!**


	2. A New Beginning

**Chapter  
-2-  
**

**A New Beginning**

The first years held more familiar faces than usual as they walked between the tables. Albus Potter caught James' eye and looked incredibly worried.

"You'll do fine, Al," James smiled as he walked past, "you'll get in Gryffindor, I know it."

Albus gave James a grateful smile. Fred turned to him.

"Not an hour ago you were teasing him about being in Slytherin," Fred chuckled. James raised his eyebrows.

"I was just kidding. It's what older brothers are meant to do." James looked after Albus, looking proud. "He's definitely a Gryffindor."

"Hey, look, it's that Malfoy kid."

Scorpius Malfoy was walking by himself, looking determined and worried. Kasia also saw Rose Weasley following behind Albus, babbling in a way that reminded her of Molly the year before.

She saw Zeno Tremlett, his black hair nearly hiding his anxious eyes. He was walking with two other kids – twins – from the Weird Sisters gang. Kasia recognised the two blonde eleven-year olds as Castor and Pollux Wintrigham. Their nearly white, feathery hair, sharp features and mischievous expressions gave the impression that they were two impish pixies or elves.

"I thought I would be less hungry than last time," Fred groaned, "I ate so much on the Hogwarts Express."

"Shut up, the Sorting's starting!" Demi hissed, and Fred grumbled, putting his chin on the table as the first names were called out.

"There's something about an empty plate that gets my stomach started."

"Edwards, Kai!"

"Slytherin!"

"I think you're right about that," James agreed, looking longingly at his clear plate, "and we don't really care about anyone's Sorting until P."

"That's rude," Demi sniffed, stubbornly paying attention to the front.

"Come on, Demi," Kasia sighed, "aren't you even a little bit bored? I know this is important for them and all, but it doesn't make it any more interesting unless we know people."

Finally they went past M – Scorpius Malfoy, predictably, getting into Slytherin – and came to P.

"Potter, Albus!"

James bit his lip. The Sorting Hat was taking longer than usual.

"Gryffindor!"

James and Fred cheered loudly along with Teddy, Victoire, Dominique and Louis. Albus ran up to them, grinning.

"Nicely done, Al," James grinned, ruffling his hair and making room, "looked like the Hat was considering Slytherin for a while there..."

"Shut it, James," Albus laughed, "I'm in Gryffindor now, so you can't tease me anymore. I hope Rose gets in, too."

"She is your cousinly counterpart," Fred agreed, earning strange looks from Demi and Kasia.

"Tremlett, Zeno!"

"Slytherin!"

Zeno joined Nico and Scorpius at the Slytherin table, high-fiving his oldest brother, Chairo, on his way.

"Almost every one of us has a cousin who's either in the same year as us," James explained, "or a year away. For example, me and Fred. Then there's Louis and Molly. Albus and Rose..."

"Lucy and Roxanne," Fred continued, "and Lily and Hugo. Vic, Dom and Teddy are by themselves. Well I suppose Vic and Teddy have each other." He laughed.

"Weasley, Rose!"

Albus sat up straighter, straining to see. The Hat seemed to take a while on her as well.

"Ravenclaw!"

Albus' face fell. James patted his back. "It's alright. You'll still be good friends with Rose."

"Wintrigham, Castor!"

"Gryffindor!"

"You can be friends with him, as well," Fred said comfortingly, gesturing to Castor, who was approaching them, but looking behind at his brother.

"Wintrigham, Pollux!"

"Gryffindor!"

"YES!" Castor yelled, before his eyes widened and he grinned sheepishly at the staring eyes.

**oOo**

Demi didn't ever take offence when Kasia says that she didn't want to talk to her about something big, because she knew that when Kasia wanted to talk, she'd talk to Demi first.

It was after the Sorting that Kasia came up to her and they sat down in between their four poster beds. Demi was glad that it hadn't taken too long for Kasia to talk about it; when she was seven at Christmas, she didn't talk to Demi about feeling completely out of place for a few weeks.

"You already know everything that's going on," Kasia began, "but all I literally want to talk about is...er..."

"Your feelings?" Demi guessed, and Kasia nodded. "It's a big thing to comprehend."

"At first I was just completely shocked. And sad, like everything had fallen down around me. And then I was angry at Ramona. And then I was excited and happy, nothing could touch me."

Kasia sighed, frustrated. "And now I just have a really weird feeling."

"Well," Demi began knowledgably, "when a girl becomes a woman, every month –"

Kasia laughed loudly and smacked her on the arm. "Shut up, _Demeter_, you know what I mean."

Demi giggled. "Yeah, I do. Now don't call me that, Kasia Alexa Days."

"See, that doesn't bother me," Kasia laughed, "Alexa is an awesome name."

Demi was serious again. "I can't imagine how I'd feel, but I think everything's happened so quickly, within two days, really. And now you've figured out that you're going to meet the father that you didn't even know you had. Do you remember him at all?"

Kasia had a look of deep thoughtfulness on her face. "There was this phrase that randomly popped into my head two years ago. _Don't be afraid of the spaces between dreams and reality. If you can dream it, you can make it so. _At the time I had no idea where it'd come from, but...thinking about it, I'm sure my father said it to me."

Demi looked at her pityingly.

"And...lately, I swear I can remember...I have this memory where I can see my father. His eyes – my eyes – and his face. He had light brown hair." Kasia shook her head. "It could just be a dream, or something...but that's all I really remember. In his letters, he said that he used to tell me all about magical creatures, and I used to love it. I don't remember that specifically, but when someone told me about a magical creature for a few years after I came to live with you, I felt like I already knew that. I suppose that's why it wasn't too much of a shock for me about magic existing."

"Do you know where in Scotland they are?"

There was something else that Demi had to refrain from expressing. She realised that she could be selfish sometimes, and it was definitely not a good trait. So she kept it to herself.

"Donaghan is going to send me the address. He said sometimes he Floo's my father."

Demi nodded, and then Chandi came into the dormitory.

"James and Fred want me to tell you that 'you're being far too anti-social and to come down this instant'," she recited, looking a little exasperated. Kasia laughed.

"Alright, we're coming."

**oOo**

The start of third year had a kind of excitement similar to their first ever week in Hogwarts. They had new classes, and they were finally able to go to Hogsmead when trips to the little village were held. They even had a different tie.

"Yeah, no. It looks exactly the same as last year's," Fred snorted, looking at his tie at breakfast.

"No, look!" Demi pointed at the gold lines, "the lines have a different pattern. Last year they and the maroon lines were the same, and this year, the gold lines are thinner and have a different pattern. See? Thick, thick, thin."

"That's ridiculous," Fred remarked, shaking his head.

"Wait, you can't see the difference?"

"Of course I can, but it's pointless."

"I think it looks better."

"You think anything new looks better!"

"Touché," Kasia laughed, and stopped when Demi glared at her.

"Whatever happened to that fifteen galleon duel that was going to happen last year?" James asked, raising an eyebrow. Demi and Fred looked at each other suddenly.

"You forgot!" Demi accused.

"And you didn't?" Fred shot back.

"Of course I didn't!"

"Yeah, cuz you're Demeter and you're so perfect!"

Demi's eye twitched. "What is it with people calling me my full name recently?"

"So you remembered about the duel?"

"Yes!"

"Ah!" Fred grinned, and his expression declared that he had already won. "So you were afraid you'd lose?"

Demi's eyes widened. "Of-of course not! I just wanted to see how long it would take you to remember!"

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury," Fred announced, turning to Kasia and James, who were trying their best to keep their laughter held in. "What is your verdict?"

Kasia snickered and nudged James, who composed his face. "The jury is withholding judgement for fear of physical health."

"With that being said, I herby charge you guilty of cowardice," Fred declared, and banged down his empty glass of pumpkin juice. "Punishment shall be paying for fifteen galleons worth of sugary goods at Honeydukes."

Demi sighed, recognising her defeat. When breakfast was over, Kasia turned to James excitedly.

"Ancient Runes is first up!"

"Would you look at Friday?" Fred whistled in appreciation. "Potions, double Charms, double Herbology, double Defence."

"I love that the professors gave us a good Friday," Demi sighed. "Well I'm off to Muggle studies. Have you got Arithmancy, Fred?"

Fred nodded, looking torn between excitement and regret. He also looked determined to stand by his decision to do Arithmancy.

"It should be great," he grinned shakily, going with James and Kasia to the moving staircase. Demi headed down to the first floor. At the Ancient Runes classroom on the sixth floor, they watched Fred walk up another floor to Arithmancy.

"Five galleons says he doesn't make it to the end of the year," Kasia said at once.

"You're on," James said, shaking her hand, "he's more stubborn than Aunt Fleur when it comes to teaching Vic, Dom and Lou French."

Professor Babbling then came out of the classroom and smiled warmly at them all.

"I'm Professor Babbling and I'll be teaching you Ancient Runes for the next five years!" she said as she rushed them all in the classroom. "Take your places, please!"

Yasmine scooted in next to James, leaving Kasia next to Cameron Churchill, another Gryffindor boy. Cameron was, to put it kindly, dim. If she had to spend the next year explaining Ancient Runes to him, Kasia would have to find a gun and put a bullet through her skull. James, catching her look, moved to the other side of Yasmine, so Kasia could sit next to him as well as Abigail Hill, a Ravenclaw she befriended the year before.

It turned out that Professor Babbling was aptly named. It wasn't a flaw, though. She was a middle aged witch who dressed eccentrically and was enthusiastic about three things: Ancient Runes, teaching and...

"Nifflers?" Kyle Davis repeated, looking interested.

"That's right, Mr Davis," Professor Babbling beamed, "I've got three at home."

"Hang on, you _keep _Nifflers?" Ethan Swansea said, shocked. "But don't they tear apart your house?"

Professor Babbling waved a hand, jingling her many bracelets. "I don't keep anything shiny lying around. They know that."

"I can't decide if I find her mad or the most awesome professor yet," James muttered to Kasia, his eyes wide. Kasia laughed.

"It sort of goes hand in hand, doesn't it?"

"Now that I've introduced myself, let's move onto some actual learning!" Professor Babbling went on. "I know that's a bit surprising in school, but when the time comes you'll find yourself in the situation where you could die if you don't know the basic runic numerical system." She paused, looking at the class's expressions. "Joking, class, joking. Sometimes I make jokes. Now, the first nine numbers are based on magical creatures that relate to that particular number. For example, unicorn being _one _because of their single horn, hydra being _nine..._"

"Definitely awesome," James grinned.

By the end of the lesson, the blackboard wouldn't have made sense to anyone who walked in afterwards. Between the numbers, letters and comical drawings of magical creatures were scribbled lines and arrows, underlines and circles.

"She's brilliant," Kasia enthused on their way out, "the teacher really makes the difference, huh?"

"For sure," James agreed, "I mean imagine if we had a professor like Binns?"

"That would be _horrible!_" Yasmine chimed in, shuddering. Katriel caught up to them.

"Thanks for waiting, Yas," she chuckled sarcastically. "You sped out of that classroom as fast as a speeding broomstick."

**oOo**

Demi was delighted that her brother had made Quidditch Captain.

"So you'll let me get on the team, then?" Demi pleaded with Apollo, who arched an eyebrow.

"Are you kidding? You'll have to be fantastic, Demeter."

Demi narrowed her eyes, and Kasia could tell she was restraining herself from calling him 'Polly'.

"I would've thought that Leslie had been made Captain," Kasia said quietly to James and Fred, "no offense to Apollo."

"She did get it," Fred explained, "but seeing as this is her last year, she gave it up to Apollo."

"That way he could be Captain for three years," James went on, "having a constant Captain makes a strong team."

"Which is why Hufflepuff is all over the place," Fred laughed, "this is the first year they've kept their Captain the same since 2005."

Kasia followed them to the Quidditch Pitch, sitting on the stands and not really paying attention. When it was over, Fred and James were walking up to her.

"Please don't tell me she didn't make it _again_?" Kasia worried, looking around for Demi. Fred grinned and pointed up to the goal hoops. Demi was flying around them, doing loops and dives, screaming.

"Hold on, but Leslie, Apollo _and _Peter are still in school," Kasia said, furrowing her eyebrows, "who did Demi replace?"

"Teddy," James answered, looking a bit sad that Teddy wasn't at Hogwarts anymore, "she decided to go for Keeper, since there were no Chaser positions available."

"That's awfully lenient of her," Kasia mused, "she never liked playing Keeper."

"I think she just wants to be on the team," James muttered.

Demi streamed down to the ground, and Kasia had a feeling that she only just pulled up in time.

"I GOT IN! I GOT IN! I GOT IN! KAZZI I GOT IN THE QUIDDITCH TEAM!" Demi screamed, taking Kasia's hands and spinning around drastically. Kasia yelped and jumped back.

"I realise that," she laughed, and then narrowed her eyes. "Did you just call me _Kazzi?_"

"Yup!"

Kasia's eye twitched, and James and Fred laughed. "Please don't call me that."

"Whaddya gonna do?" Demi demanded jokingly, still dancing around them.

Kasia growled. "Demeter Wood. I know about Greek mythology, there are a whole lot of jokes I can make about _your _name."

Demi stopped dancing. "Fair point. I won't call you Kazzi. But..."

She took a deep breath and Kasia, Fred and James covered their ears.

"I GOT IN! I GOT IN!"

**oOo**

"Hey, Zia, what's this for?" Demi inquired, holding up a calendar. It had numbers on each of the days, counting down.

"You've never been one to count down days till the holidays before."

Kasia smiled sheepishly. "It's until I get to see my father. It's hard to believe that I'm going to meet him. I wonder if he'll recognise me? If I'll recognise him? What my grandparents are like? If he'll come back to England?"

Demi nodded and didn't meet Kasia's eyes.

"Hogwarts is supposed to be somewhere in Scotland, right?" Kasia asked, and went on before receiving an answer. "Then my father is somewhere over these hills..."

She looked out the window, past the Quidditch pitch and the lake.

"You're being awfully silent about this, Demi."

Demi huffed. "It's nothing."

Kasia raised an eyebrow and waited. To her surprise, Demi didn't cave.

"Won't you just tell me?"

Demi frowned, not saying a word. Kasia sighed.

"If you don't want to tell me yet, that's fine. I'm not the type to dwell on whatever you're going to say," Kasia reminded her. Still nothing. "Alright, then. Come on, let's go to dinner!"

Before they knew it, September had gone by, as well as Kasia's birthday and the first full moon at Hogwarts.

"You know, for some reason I keep on getting surprised when one year is harder than the last," Fred sighed one evening early October, after they had finally finished their homework. He, James and Demi had had a Quidditch practise and had to cram their homework in afterwards.

"I can't believe a month has already gone by!" Kasia agreed.

"My dad says that every year goes faster than the last," James told them. Fred laughed.

"And my dad says that every year goes the same speed, but Uncle Harry just moves slower."

James whacked him on the head. "Dad isn't moving slower. He's an Auror. It's a very fast-paced occupation."

"So is running a line of joke shops."

"So is playing professional Quidditch!" Demi chimed in, receiving looks from James and Fred.

"Yeah, but he's a reserve now."

"What's your point?"

"Not as fast paced as before."

Kasia tuned out. Her father mentioned in his letters that he studied magical creatures. She had to admit, it wasn't a fast paced job, but from the Care of Magical Creatures lessons she'd had so far, being a Magizoologist would be a brilliant job. Maybe when she visited him she could study some of them with him?

"Hey Demi, won't you just tell me what was bugging you?" Kasia said out of the blue, and Demi sighed. Kasia had been trying to get it out of her all month.

"It's not like you to be this silent."

"Demi being silent?" Fred gasped in horror. "What is happening to the w−OW!"

He glared at Demi and pointed an accusing finger. "YOU...are a _violent _woman."

"You should be more careful, then," Demi told him, and then turned to Kasia. "Do you really want to know?"

Kasia resisted the urge to reply sarcastically. Why else would she have been bugging her all month about it? "_Yes._"

"I don't want you to not live with us anymore," Demi whispered. Kasia was taken aback.

"What?"

"When you bring your father back to England," she clarified, "I thought...I thought you'd want to live with him instead of staying with us."

"I guess...I hadn't really thought about it," Kasia said, surprised, "but I'm not going to live with him."

It was Demi's turn to be surprised. Fred and James were staying out of the conversation, busying themselves with talk about Quidditch.

"Your place, your family, it's my home now," Kasia went on, "I'm not about to give that up for some man who hasn't seen me since I was three."

Demi sighed in relief. "I didn't want to say anything because I thought I was being selfish."

"I'm proud," Kasia laughed, "Don't worry, though. I'll stay with the Woods until I move out by myself."

She couldn't imagine how Demi would react when Kasia moved out to become a Potioneer. She'd looked into research facilities and the top one for permanent magical diseases was in America.

**Yay chapter two! Aside from the main events, I might be moving slightly more quickly through the months, averaging on two a chapter rather than one. This is partly because there isn't much happening **_**every **_**month, and party because I'm going to try and squeeze three years into Third Quarter.**

**Do you guys like the covers I did? Let me know! **

**Maybe I should start asking review questions...? Uhmmm...what's been your all-time favourite part of this story (It's Full Moon Again included) so far?**


	3. All We Ever Do Is Wait

**Chapter  
-3-  
**

**All We Ever Do Is Wait**

After discovering that she was actually a half blood a year before, and then spending her second year finding out facts about her father, and then learning about her grandparents and her great uncle, and then ultimately discovering that her father was real, and wanted to meet her ... the month of November seemed far too ordinary for Kasia's liking.

"Twenty-seven more days!" Kasia announced at breakfast on a Sunday, as she had been doing since she had decided to go to Scotland in the Christmas break. That day it was a random burst of energy. Since the full moon was that night, she wasn't feeling one hundred percent.

"Nothing's happening at Hogwarts," Fred grumbled, "all we ever do is wait for things. Waiting for Christmas, waiting for the next Quidditch match..."

"We had a Quidditch match yesterday," Demi pointed out wryly. Fred snorted.

"Yeah, but we lost, so it hardly counts."

"That makes perfect sense," Demi said bitterly. She was annoyed at herself for letting in three goals out of ten, which, as Kasia had told her time and time again, was a brilliant job.

"Do all your sentences have to be sarcastic?"

"Nooo."

"I can't even tell if you're being sarcastic."

"Of course you can't."

"Are you just using it to annoy me now?"

Demi narrowed her eyes. "You're not fighting back much."

"What's up, Fred?" Kasia asked. Fred groaned and put his head down on the table.

"Nooo, no talking about feelings and crap. Anything but that."

"The most sensitive person I know!" Demi joked half-heartedly.

"What else are we waiting for, anyway?" James asked Fred. "You only listed two things."

"Christmas, holidays, Quidditch, Hogsmeade, O.W.L.S. and everything after Hogwarts. Our lives. We never just focus on what's happening, we're always aiming for something, whether it is in the next month – like Kasia meeting her dad – or in the next few years – like graduating."

"Sentimental," Kasia noted.

"Having a bit of a mid-life crisis?" Demi snickered. Fred looked up and glared at her.

"So as soon as I start acting serious, something must be wrong?"

"Pretty much," James nodded.

"Obviously," Demi agreed.

"I'm actually a little suspicious," Kasia added, "is there going to be a prank?"

"I'm just really tired," Fred insisted. Demi raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"So it has nothing to do with that Arithmancy essay?"

Fred grimaced. "No."

"Arithmancy isn't hard at all?" James asked, grinning. Kasia remembered their bet about Fred quitting Arithmancy.

"No...it's interesting," Fred said unconvincingly, "I just don't know what I'm going to do after Hogwarts."

"Quidditch?" James suggested.

Fred brushed it off. "That's only for the really committed people."

"Minister of Magic?" Demi added jokingly.

"Too much paperwork," Fred answered seriously.

"Joke shop?" Kasia chimed in.

"That would be great, but I don't want to just do the same thing as my father."

"I know what you mean," James agreed, "I want to be an Auror, but I'm kind of in my dad's shadow."

Kasia supposed that was one downfall of having a famous father. Harry Potter had saved everyone, how could you top that? Then there was Ginny Weasley, star Quidditch player and now Ginny Potter, one of the most entertaining writers in _the Prophet. _She could only imagine how Albus and Lily would feel, living in the shadow of their parents _and _their older brother.

"I'm not as creative as dad, either," Fred continued, and sighed. "What do you want to do, Demi?"

"Me?" Demi asked, surprised. He nodded.

"I don't know, either," she admitted, "I'm not really good at anything. Obviously not Quidditch."

"Sure you are!" Kasia argued. "You saved seven out of ten goals in your first match! You're charismatic, and good at Herbology, and fun and pretty!"

"Where's that going to get me?" Demi asked rhetorically. "I don't know, maybe I'll end up doing something in Muggle Studies. It's sort of interesting so far."

"At least you have _some _idea," Fred snorted, and then turned to Kasia, "what about you?"

Kasia froze. James was the only person who knew so far, and that wasn't entirely intentional, it sort of just came out. People were thinking seriously about careers now, even though they were thirteen and fourteen. Her friends, of all people, would understand. Kasia looked at James, who grinned.

"I want to cure lycanthropy," she told them, "I've actually thought about that for a while now."

Fred whistled. "Ambitious."

"Oh!" Demi said in realisation. "_That's _why you were so determined to be good at Potions in first year!"

"And why you've tried so hard since," James added.

Kasia looked around at all of them. They took her completely seriously. "You lot are brilliant."

"Aw, shucks," Fred smiled, and then sighed again. "You're the only one of all of us who knows exactly where they're going. I just wish I knew what to do."

He put his head on the table. Demi hung her head too and picked at her food, obviously thinking about Quidditch. Kasia covered her face with her hands, trying to ignore the nausea that came from full moon day.

"Aren't we a cheerful bunch?" James laughed, and was met with quiet 'mm's from his friends. He pouted. "You guys are depressing."

Silence.

"Do you guys want to go outside? I think Hagrid's setting up the ice rink again on the Lake."

Demi waved a dismissal hand at him. James huffed.

"Look, you guys are being depressing for no reason! Fred, you're only fourteen, you don't need to know what you want to be right now, nothing really counts until O.W.L's. Also, you pride yourself on being an easygoing, living-in-the-moment guy. Demi, it was your first bloody match and even _your brother_ – who also happens to be the Quidditch captain −said you did fantastic. Do you know how hard it is for an older brother to admit that a little sister has done well? And Kasia..."

She looked at him dangerously, arching an eyebrow. "I have no reason for being depressing, huh?"

James widened his eyes. "Er...I'll buy you lots of chocolate when we go to Hogsmeade. You like chocolate, right?"

Demi snorted and looked at James. "Like that's ever going to –"

She was cut off by Kasia, who cracked a smile. "Alright."

Fred looked brighter as well. "Apparently Remus Lupin was addicted to chocolate also."

Kasia growled jokingly and hit his arm. "I'm not addicted. Chocolate just happens to be one of the best inventions of all time. It has endorphins in it, which release happy feelings."

"Endor-what?" James repeated, completely baffled.

"I learned about it from a television program when I was five and somehow I remember," Kasia recalled. "Maybe because that was the day when me and Lia found the chocolate that Ramona was hiding for Easter and we ate it _all_."

"Television!" Demi said suddenly, her face screwing up in concentration. "That's...a muggle invention...that..."

"Your beauty amazes me when your face is all screwed up like that," Fred told Demi with a deadpan expression. She glared at him, and he snickered.

"You're so mean!"

"Yeah, yeah, I was just messing with you."

"Television!" Demi exclaimed, ignoring Fred. "A muggle electrical invention that shows previously recorded moving pictures, sort of like our photographs. It's a form of entertainment, and I wish it existed in the wizarding world."

Kasia nodded. "I'm impressed. Are you learning about electricity?"

"Yeah, but I still can't get my mind around how it works," Demi grinned, "we're learning some muggle science in fourth year, though."

"Well, I know stuff about Arithmancy, too!" Fred claimed, suddenly competitive.

"Really?" Demi asked, sceptical.

And so Fred spent the walk back up to the Gryffindor tower explaining the Agrippan method of calculating someone's heart, social and character numbers, and how the muggle method was not always entirely accurate, but with the spells they learnt...

Kasia couldn't help but notice that James looked incredibly pleased with himself for cheering up his friends so successfully.

But Fred's thoughts got Kasia thinking more about the future. When people looked ahead twenty years, they usually imagined having a family and a job. Kasia couldn't picture that happening to her, as a werewolf. Her hypothetical partner could do a lot better, and there was no way she could risk passing on lycanthropy. Even though she knew she wasn't able to have these things, that didn't stop her from wanting them eventually, no matter how hard she tried. She knew that one day she would want a family.

So the only way for her to get that life that everyone eventually wanted was to remove what made it impossible for her. If she took out the werewolf factor, she was just an ordinary witch, albeit disowned, led to believe her father was dead, and not seeing her sister in over five years. She knew that she would never stop trying until she found a cure. And not just for herself, but every werewolf. Nobody deserved a life with lycanthropy.

And that was what drove her. That was her ultimate goal. She didn't believe any of the other Potioneers would be quite as driven to find a cure.

**oOo**

Kasia never liked winter full moons. Well, she never liked full moons anyway, but in winter they were especially horrible. After taking the potion, she almost decided to stay in the Room of Requirement like she was meant to. It would be warm, but she knew she would end up getting too restless. So she headed out to the Forest, bringing a blanket to wrap herself in. She shivered and wrapped it tighter, wishing that she didn't have to go through this every month. And then the transformation began, and she wished it that much more.

After the moon set, she wrapped herself in the blanket again and walked quickly back to the Gryffindor tower. The Fat Lady was more than used to her level of responsiveness once a month and gave her a look of sympathy as she let her in.

Kasia would be lying if she said she didn't miss Teddy. Having those conversations with him after the full moon helped. Sometimes they didn't even talk much, but knowing that he understood what she was going through – at least on some level – made her feel really comfortable.

She couldn't talk to her friends about it without getting sympathy, but Teddy knew how she felt. She knew that he could easily stay in his dormitory, but it was an unspoken agreement that he would wait downstairs for her, and then, after maybe half an hour at the most, they would both go to their respective dormitories and finally sleep.

But now, after saying the password and dragging her feet to the common room, she looked around with tired eyes at the empty sofas.

"Goodnight, Teddy," she murmured dejectedly by habit, and shuffled up to her dormitory, collapsing into her four poster without having that somehow reassuring moment with Teddy Lupin every month.

**oOo**

Apparently Victoire was missing Teddy also. A couple of boys had even asked her out, but didn't get good reception.

"YOU THINK JUST BECAUSE MY BOYFRIEND GRADUATED YOU CAN TAKE HIS PLACE?!"

The typical scene after that was a red light streaming as the terrified boy ran from her Veela temper, much to the amusement of those watching.

**oOo**

"Fifteen more days!" Kasia grinned later in the month. "Just two weeks! What are you guys doing for Christmas?"

"The big Potter Weasley special," Fred grinned, "hosted by Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione this year."

"Damn, I wish I was there to see the preparations," James laughed, "it's always hilarious how many disagreements the two of them get in when they've got to organise something."

"Who hosted last year?" Demi asked curiously.

"My family did," Fred informed her, "but I wasn't there. Pity, really. We host the best Christmas."

"No way!" James argued, "The Potter Christmas is by far the best, just wait until next year. Yours always end in disaster."

"That's not true!" Fred disagreed, defending the party. "Sort of. It just makes it more entertaining. We have a lot of fireworks in our household, what do you expect? Mum left the house before it started, she should know better than to trust me, dad and Rocky with dad's old products! Of course something's always going to explode. So what if it's the pudding? Or the tree? Or the roof?"

Demi and Kasia were collapsing into laughter the more he spoke. James chuckled too.

"Rocky is such an adorable nickname for Roxanne!" Demi giggled.

"Please don't tell her I told you guys that nickname!" Fred froze, his eyes wide.

"Are you scared of your little sister?" Demi asked, holding in her laughter. Fred glared at her.

"She is one dangerous little ten year old."

"Is there any order in who hosts?" Kasia asked, composing herself with a grin.

"Yeah," James answered, "it goes from oldest to youngest and back again. So grandma and grandpa start, and then it goes down from Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur, to Uncle Charlie, to Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey, to Uncle Fred and Aunt Angelina, to Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, to my dad and mum."

"That's a big cycle."

"Keeps it interesting," Fred shrugged.

Finally their first Hogsmeade trip came around, and soon enough it was the Friday night before. Kasia announced that it was five days until she met her father, and was overcome with the reality that five days away was no longer a dream. It was less than a week. She contemplated it all day, and was so out of it that she didn't notice when a Kappa attempted to attack her in a practical Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson after lunch, before Professor Stimpson stunned it.

She didn't voice her thoughts until she and Demi were the only two left awake in their dormitory at night. Kasia checked that the others were asleep and couldn't hear, and after checking that Demi was awake (she was doing her Muggle Studies essay willingly), finally whispered her fear.

"What if he doesn't like me?"

"Of course he will!" Demi reassured her.

"What if he's a jerk?" Kasia went on, running her hands through her hair. "What if he finds out I'm a werewolf and hates me?"

"Kasia, you're being ridiculous."

"What if this is all just some huge prank and my father's really dead? I'm just turning up in Scotland, I have no way of knowing what he's going to be like. What if –"

"Yes, you do!" Demi interrupted. "You have his letters. Nine of them, right? They show you the kind of person you are, but also...do you really think you got all your personality from your mum?"

Kasia grimaced. "I sure hope not."

"And Donaghan Tremlett spoke highly of him," Demi went on, "he pretty much gave up the wizarding world for your mother when he was still really young. He only left because it was what your mother wanted, and at the time he wasn't feeling the best about himself. After all this, you think he's going to be a bad person?"

Kasia was shocked. "I...I was only..."

"You've waited your entire life to meet this man, Kasia," Demi told her sternly, "so don't you go putting your hopes down. Or up too high, for that matter, I suppose. But he seems like a good father, so stop worrying."

"Yes sir!" Kasia saluted.

"Now go to sleep."

"Yes sir!"

**oOo**

"It is officially the perfect day to go to Hogsmeade," James grinned as they met in the common room the next day.

"You're right!" Kasia agreed excitedly, "The snow's falling just a little, everything's covered in white and there isn't much wind!"

"But you've already been," Fred pouted, sulking. Kasia rolled her eyes.

"That was only the inside of the Shrieking Shack," she reminded him for the seventh time, "I didn't even see Hogsmeade."

"That still counts," Fred grumbled.

"That does _not _count," Demi snorted.

"It so does!" Fred exclaimed. "The Shrieking Shack is a part of Hogsmeade, is it not?"

"If you went into the Leaky Cauldron would you count that as going to Diagon Ally?" Demi countered.

"Yes, the entrance is part of Diagon Ally as well."

"Still the perfect day?" Kasia chuckled at James, who sighed.

"It _will _be."

"I _like _Arithmancy!" Fred was insisting.

"Shut it!" James said loudly.

"How did you get to Arithmancy?" Kasia asked with an arching eyebrow. James glared at her, a smile on the corner of his mouth.

"It doesn't matter that Kasia's 'already been to Hogsmeade'," James told them, making sure to put inverted commas up so that an argument wouldn't start again. "Because we're all going today. In about half an hour. And it's going to be _awesome._"

Demi and Fred nodded quickly.

It _was _awesome. They ventured through the magical village, stopping everywhere. James lived up to his promise and bought everyone bounds of chocolate and other sweets from Honeydukes. Fred insisted on buying everyone bounds of merchandise at Zonko's Joke Shop. They assured Kasia and Demi that they didn't mind spending so much money – which the girls knew was because both of their families were rich – but Kasia and Demi split the bill when they had Butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks.

"This doesn't even begin to cover what you two bought us all," Kasia insisted when the boys tried to pitch in. "So you better keep your wallets in your pockets."

"I thought everyone was exaggerating about Hogsmeade Butterbeer," Demi sighed, finishing off her mug. "But this is the most amazing drink of all time."

They steered clear of Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop after seeing how many snogging couples there were there, and didn't stay long in the duller shops such as The Magic Neep and Gladrag's Wizardwear. Demi was interested when they visited the Wizarding Wireless Network, telling them how it was amazing how the radio had come across to the wizarding world.

Of course, they had to spend a while in Spintwitches, which held all the Quidditch supplies that Fred, James and Demi could dream of. James and Demi were recognised by the owner, who enthusiastically told him what big fans he was of the famous Ginny Weasley and Oliver Wood.

Kasia had a ball in Tomes and Scrolls, which had recently imported a 'Magnificent Muggle Reads' section. She was delighted to find copies of all of her favourites, and even more delighted to find that some had had extra books released since she'd last been to a Muggle book shop. She ended up buying so many books the worker had to suggest she got it mailed to her instead.

"How's my Quidditch team going?" A voice asked when they got outside. They all whipped around to see a cheerful looking Teddy with soft brown hair and Victoire happily by his side.

"Teddy!" James grinned. "Hogwarts isn't the same without you, mate."

"I'm nowhere near as good a Keeper as you were," Demi pouted.

Teddy smiled. "I'm sure you'll do fine, Demi. From what Apollo told me, you did brilliant for your first match." Demi flushed from the praise.

"Do you have any more plays you thought of, Teddy?" Fred asked eagerly.

"I've let Apollo know," Teddy assured him, "your dad told me to say buy as many Zonko's products as you like, and your mum told me to say to disregard that and focus on school, perhaps."

Fred laughed. "Sounds like my parents."

Victoire turned to James.

"You, James Sirius Potter, are apparently the one who spilled the beans to the family about me and Teddy."

A grin tugged at the corner of James' mouth. "I couldn't believe it. None of them were even shocked."

"My dad was," Victoire told him, "it took ages for us to explain to him, thanks to you."

"Er...sorry?" James looked sheepish. Teddy laughed.

"She's just messing with you, James. Take it easy."

James laughed, eying Victoire warily. "I...I knew that."

"How've you been, Kasia?" Teddy asked her as Victoire struck up conversation with her cousins and Demi. Kasia had been quiet up until then.

"I'm meeting my dad at Christmas," she told him, smiling.

"That's fantastic!"

"Yeah, it is." She looked down. "Missed you on the full moons, though."

"Same," Teddy admitted, "but I suppose there's nothing we can do."

"I suppose."

"We'd best be off," Demi was saying, "I think it's time for us to go back to school."

They left Victoire to say goodbye to Teddy alone, and when they were heading back up to the school in the carriages, they were completely content.

"That was legendary," James sighed.

"Magical," Demi agreed.

"Amazing," Kasia added.

"Fantastic," Fred grinned.

**I'm so sorry for the wait, but do you know how hard it is to write a filler chapter? The next chapter's the big one: KASIA GOES TO SCOTLAND! It's already written, I've been writing parts for months! That's why in this chapter, I even got the characters to complain about the wait.**

**Questions: What are you suspecting/hoping for in the next chapter? And also, what would you want to be if you were a wizard after you left Hogwarts? (Who knows, maybe Fred will end up doing that :P)**


	4. Eyes Outside A Mirror

**Chapter  
-4-  
**

**Eyes Outside A Mirror**

Kasia bit her lip. She bit her nails. She crossed her legs. She smoothed her shirt. Uncrossed her legs. Smacked her lips. Twiddled her thumbs. Wiggled her toes. Wiped her hands on her jeans. Adjusted her scarf. Looked out the window at what appeared to be a canyon. Rested her head against the window. Rested her head against her hand. Crossed her legs and sat up straight. Slouched in the seat.

"Kasia."

She looked up. Oliver had his eyebrows raised.

"Is it necessary to fidget that much?" he asked, sighing. "Are you bored?"

"Bored?" Kasia laughed, "I don't really get bored on long trips. I'm just nervous."

"Don't be," Oliver insisted, "what kind of a man wouldn't be pleased to meet his daughter?"

Kasia sighed. She never thought the day would come when she would be on her way to meet her father. Oliver had volunteered to accompany her, and she thought it best if he did. So on the first day of the Christmas holidays, he had presented her with tickets for the train.

There were still some things in the wizarding world that she was not aware of, but these overseas trains were one of the new developments. They skidded above the water, sometimes going under, and displayed different sceneries out the window during the latter. The train was called the _Uisce Faoileoir – _which meant something in Irish −but so far Kasia had not managed to pronounce it, figure out why a train to Scotland would have an Irish name, nor why they had to go over the ocean to get to Scotland from England.

Kasia had gone overseas once before, to France, with Ramona and Anelia. The cities were amazing, but nothing compared to the rolling green hills of Scotland that so reminded her of Hogwarts.

The train took about two hours, and stopped in Dundee, where they got onto another train that went directly to Drumnadrochit. It was sweet little town that held a household of Days on Kilmore Road, according to Donaghan, and soon they were driving down the streets in a car. Apparently it was right next to the Loch Ness.

"Couldn't we have taken a Portkey?"

"I suppose," Oliver shrugged, "but they're a hassle to organise close to Christmas, and the train gives us an opportunity to see the views." He looked out the window. "I don't think I've seen Scotland outside of Hogwarts."

"I cannot believe I am in the same town as my father," Kasia breathed, "and my grandparents. Not just the same country. _Merlin's socks, that's Kilmore Road! That's the house!_"

It looked exactly as Donaghan had described it, but with more detail. A small cottage with a wonderfully kept garden in the front, and snow stacked onto the roof like something out of a painting. They stepped out of the car, and Kasia stopped in her tracks.

"I can't do this." She was suddenly overcome with dread and fear. What was she thinking, showing up out of the blue?

"Yes, you can, Kasia." Oliver was used to her quick changes of mind.

"Let's go back to London. We can still make it in time for dinner!" She begged him desperately. He raised an eyebrow.

"That's just not realistic."

And with that, he left Kasia panicking on the road and walked up to the front door.

"_Oliver!_" Kasia whined, and he turned around, smiling. "Come back!"

He rang the doorbell, and Kasia squealed in terror and ran behind him.

"Please let no-one be home," Kasia whispered repeatedly, crossing her fingers desperately.

"I'm starting to think you don't want to meet your father at all," Oliver chuckled, and then looked disappointed at a reaction. "Or maybe that you're too scared to. Some Gryffindor you are."

Kasia stood up straight away, next to Oliver, who smirked. She kept her fingers crossed, for a different reason. This was her family she was about to meet.

The door opened, to reveal a woman. She looked about sixty years old, but she was still beautiful. Her silky black hair was cut short, her features were petite and she had arching eyebrows and high cheekbones.

She had violet eyes too. It was a strange feeling, seeing them. Kasia had never seen her own eyes outside a mirror. She never really noticed how strange they seemed, but until you noticed the colour, they just seemed to be a deep blue.

The woman looked confused and a little stunned, staring at Kasia.

"May I help you?"

Oliver nudged Kasia.

"Er, I'm..." Kasia mumbled, and then cleared her throat. "I'm Kasia. Kasia Alexa Days."

**oOo**

Kasia's arrival was surprising, to say the least. She met Calesca and Orion, her grandparents, and immediately loved them. Calesca had an amazing collection of books that included wizard novels, Muggle novels and a small shelf of books she had written herself. She also kept a lovely garden that had all the herbs Kasia could think of, and more. Orion was a fantastic artist, his landscapes and portraits decorating the house. He showed her his workshop where he carved wooden sculptures. He was Ollivander's apprentice at one point, but favoured visual pieces over wandmaking.

It took a while to explain everything, and eventually Kasia was directed down the street and to a hill.

She walked over the frosted green hill slowly, hardly daring to believe what was on top of it. She saw a figure, silhouetted by the sunset, sitting on a stool, and caught her breath. When she let it out, it came out in a puff of mist. She had been completely silent. Kasia watched the man. He was sketching his surroundings: a ruined castle on the shore of Loch Ness, the sun setting on one side.

"Marvell?"

The figure sighed and turned. "Mum, I told you to leave me alone when..." he trailed off, seeing Kasia. "Who are you?"

Kasia didn't say anything; she just walked closer until she could see his eyes. Her eyes. Again, she had that strange sensation of looking into a mirror when she saw them. He seemed to notice as well, and his mouth fell slightly open.

"Kasia?" He said in a hushed voice. "Or...are you Anelia?"

"Only I got our eyes," Kasia whispered. She hesitated. "And...Neither of us got any letters."

"That's why you didn't reply," Marvell breathed, and then caught himself, "I mean...would you have?"

"Of course. You're my father." _This is so ordinary, _she couldn't stop thinking, _this is so weird. He's my father. This is so weird. This is so normal._

"I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am. I didn't tell Ramona early enough. I thought, I suppose, that I could ignore it. And after I did−"

"Why weren't you there?" Kasia could barely believe that she was angry. Her question interrupted him before she'd had time to think about it.

Marvell stopped halfway through his sentence, and looked at Kasia.

"Why weren't you there?" Kasia repeated, growing angrier, "Why did you just _leave_?"

"Your mother didn't want me to see either of you," Marvell said quietly. Kasia realised that she had been hiding her anger at her father because she was so excited to meet him. All the other emotions she had talked about with Demi, but she never considered that she would be angry at him.

"Who cares what she wants? Why did you listen to her!? How could you let a few shouted words stop you from seeing your daughter?" Kasia grew louder. "Because there were some times when she really could've used a father! Like when she started doing magic, and had no clue why her mother hated her for it! Or when she was attacked by a werewolf and thrust into this world she knew nothing about!"

"Did you just say...attacked by a...?"

"And when I see Oliver helping Demi with Quidditch," Kasia went on, her voice shaking, "or Harry talking for hours with James. Or George telling Fred how proud he is of him, and how much he reminds him of his twin. Even Donaghan and his kids! I just..."

Kasia gave up, and hugged her father tightly, crying into his shirt. Marvell put his arms around her.

"I've missed you so much," Kasia whispered, "I never knew you, but I missed you."

"I missed you too."

After a minute, Marvell released her and kept his hands on her shoulders, studying her face.

"You were attacked by a werewolf?" he asked, his eyebrows pulling together in a concerned way. His eyes followed the lines of her scars.

"When I was five," Kasia told him, "I convinced Anelia to explore the forest near our house. She was terrified, and when we heard the growling sound and saw it, we had no idea what it was. Ramona never told us about magic at all. It went after Anelia after I told it to run, but I threw a rock at it. So it came after me. The next thing I remember is waking up at St Mungo's. I'm a werewolf."

Kasia watched him intently as she said this, but Marvell didn't seem scared or disgusted at all by the fact that she was a werewolf. He looked sad.

"What happened then?"

Kasia told him, and his face was full of regret.

"I should've known Ramona would've acted like that," Marvell said, looking angry and wistful at the same time. Then he looked at her. "I should've been there. I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," Kasia muttered, "it was just bad luck."

"I heard they're getting closer to finding a cure for lycanthropy," he said, trying to look reassuring, "I think they found a way to use more Wolfsbane without it being poisonous."

"They've been saying that they're getting closer for years. I don't think it's going to be happening any time soon."

Despite the fact they were talking about lycanthropy, Kasia felt the conversation was far more normal than she expected.

"I want to find a cure though," Kasia told him proudly, "after I graduate Hogwarts."

A part of her mind jolted at the mention of this ambition: this was the first time she'd told anyone other than her friends. She hadn't told an adult. Now she wanted her father to know.

Marvell smiled widely. "That's great! Oh! What house −?"

"Gryffindor."

"Of course," Marvell grinned, and hugged her again, "how did you find me?"

She told him of her second year at Hogwarts spent trying to find him, and finally of Donaghan Tremlett.

"So you know about the Battle of Hogwarts?" His eyes got a regretful, hollow look when he asked her. She nodded.

"Donaghan says hi," she told him, moving right along, "and he said to tell you you're a tosser."

"Of course he did."

**oOo**

They went back to the house and Kasia spent the rest of the day getting to know her family, who were everything she had ever hoped them to be, and more. Marvell was excited to learn that Kasia had chosen the two subjects he had for third year, and they swapped stories from their days at Hogwarts.

"And then James told Fred anyway," Kasia recalled, grinning widely, "and Fred yelled it really loud, 'Demeter! Demeter!' And Demi _stood up _and dived for Fred, and they knocked the boat over, so we were all in the Lake!"

They laughed, and Kasia felt proud of herself. "It was hilarious. And then Hagrid had to help us back in, but we were laughing so much it was hard to get back in the boat!"

"That reminds me of when me and Don used to prank Meaghan McCormack, Kirley's sister. Of course, Don wanted to because he'd fancied her forever," Marvell chuckled.

"And now they're married, aren't they?" Kasia grinned. Marvell nodded.

"Don spent a lot of his spare time with the band, so sometimes I'd hang out with Meg. Once Don found that out, he started taking time away from the band."

"One of Donaghan's sons, Nico, told me how his father always went on about the stuff you two got up to," Kasia smiled, "he said that you tried to get everyone hooked on the Beatles?"

Marvell laughed loudly. "That's right. I got a magical radio for my birthday, and dad got me a Beatles disc. Don's a Muggleborn, so he loved them already. We duplicated the radios, shrunk them and put them in the suits of armour. It took a week before they were finally removed."

"I think Dumbledore could've done it earlier," Orion mused, "but I reckon he just liked the music."

"Dumbledore sounds amazing," Kasia said wistfully, "I only wish I could've met him."

"If you ever get sent to the Headmaster's office, you could probably have a chat with him," Marvell winked, and Calesca hit his arm.

"Don't encourage her!"

"They're Ravenclaws," Marvell said in a loud whisper. Kasia laughed.

"Of course, that explains it."

"Our school years weren't as exciting as yours seem to be," Calesca told her. Marvell snorted.

"Yeah, fights with Death Eaters to be, the drama of dad's bloodline, Vivian and Alsius, the thing about Sarah and dad, and then the breakup and the Abscondita..."

Kasia's mind reacted to that last word, but she couldn't figure out why.

"Abscondita?"

"It's an amazing story," Marvell assured her, "but I don't want to spoil it by my bad storytelling. Read mum's book."

"You've written a biography?" Kasia asked Calesca, impressed. Calesca nodded.

"I have a spare copy, if you'd like."

"Yes, please!" Kasia beamed, "What's the Abscondita, though? I feel like I've heard the name before."

"I doubt you have," Marvell said, "usually in the papers it's shortened to _absc._"

Kasia gasped. "That's it! I saw it on your names, but I could never figure out what it was...what was the Abscondita?"

"An organisation," Orion told her, "not as brave as the Order of the Phoenix, unfortunately, but the Abscondita was designed just to keep people safe. Some of us would help the Order, but mostly it was just for safety."

"The name itself means _hidden _in Latin," Calesca added, "since that was the idea."

Kasia opened her mouth to ask another question, fascinated, but Marvell stopped her.

"Honestly, the best way to know the story is to read the book. Right, mum?"

Calesca nodded, and Kasia huffed.

"Fine. Nico also said you two had a duel because you quit the Quidditch team."

Marvell smiled at the memory. "We got detentions for two months because of that. I wanted to focus on school, partially because this one magizoology department was really fussy, and partially because my parents wanted me to. My marks weren't the best until fifth. As soon as Don found out, he went mad. We singed an entire wall on the sixth floor staircase, knocked two paintings down, and nearly fell down the staircases about three times each. Finally the teachers came and broke us up. Those two paintings always swore at us whenever we passed them after that."

Her father was one of the coolest people she had ever met.

They stayed for two more days, including an incredibly magical Christmas. Kasia helped Marvell with his magizoology, which primarily consisted of the study of the famous Loch Ness Monster, which was really the world's largest kelpie. She was given a copy of Calesca's biography, _The Family Name, _and couldn't wait to start reading. Orion was full of old stories, which never got boring. Then it was time for them to go back to England.

"Donaghan said to bring you back," Kasia told Marvell on the night before, "I think he misses his best mate."

Marvell sighed. "I don't know. I've been here so long now; all my friends probably don't remember me."

"You're a Gryffindor, you've got to be more adventurous!" Kasia insisted, "Besides, there are other magical creatures in England you can study!"

"You're a grown man, Marvell," Calesca said to him sternly, "you've lived with your parents long enough."

"In fact, we're kicking you out," Orion said brightly. "We'll visit!"

"What loving parents I have," Marvell chuckled, "I suppose I'll have to move to England, then." Kasia was overjoyed.

**oOo**

Kasia didn't get a chance to introduce her father to her friends until they were at Platform 9 ¾ to go back to Hogwarts, because Marvell had been busy with unpacking. Kasia had gone with him to pick out an apartment, and went over a couple of times to help unpack, but Demi was far too busy with her homework, James was in another country, and Fred was grounded for a prank on his sister that went wrong and left her wandering the Muggle streets, trying to do magic.

"Kasia's told me lots about you all," Marvell grinned, "sorry about my hair, I was trying to change the colour of the wallpaper in my new place..."

Fred's eyes were shining. He turned to Kasia. "Your dad is awesome."

Marvell was sporting some bright orange hair, which was slowly wearing off.

"He's not a Metamorphmagus too, is he?" Teddy laughed, approaching the group.

"You must be Teddy," Marvell introduced himself. "I'm Kasia's father."

Kasia didn't think she would ever get sick of hearing those words.

Teddy changed his hair colour so that it was orange as well. "Now you won't feel so out of place. Anyway, got to run!"

"We've got to go, too," Demi told Kasia reluctantly, "it's nearly eleven."

"I'll write," Kasia promised. Marvell grinned.

"I will, too."

**oOo**

"Best Christmas _ever,_" Kasia sighed happily, leaning back into her seat.

"Your dad is so cool!" Fred exclaimed.

Kasia grinned proudly. "So how was everyone else's Christmas? Didn't you go to Greece, James?"

James nodded. "It was really amazing. I didn't think I'd be interested in all the Greek history, but it's fascinating."

"I told you all last year, didn't I?" Kasia laughed, "What about you, Fred?"

Fred's expression soured. "I got grounded."

"Grounded?" Demi repeated, looking surprised. "But I thought you said your mum went to visit her parents over Christmas?"

"She did."

James gaped. "So...Uncle _George_...?"

Fred nodded glumly.

"What did you _do?_"

Fred sighed. "I tried out this product I got from Zonko's on Roxanne, it was only 2 galleons – I guess I know why, now – it was supposed to wipe her mind, then I could use her to nick some of dad's old prototypes. She usually works with me, but I owe her too much at the moment."

"You _owe _your little sister?" Kasia asked, stifling a laugh. Fred nodded seriously.

"I'm her primary source of income. You could probably buy a decent broomstick with the amount of money I've given her. Anyway, dad keeps the prototypes hidden high, and Rocky's the only one who can fit through the entrance."

"What kind of entrance is that?" Demi asked. Fred raised an eyebrow.

"You've been to my house; you know what it's like. Anyway, I think it was a bit strong, because, next thing I knew, she was wondering around the Muggle part of town with dad's wand, trying to do magic."

"Did she?!"

Fred shook her head. "Thank Merlin for that, otherwise dad would've murdered me. As it is, I was grounded for the entire Christmas holidays, and I was in charge of cleaning."

"By the looks of your place, that would be the worst job possible," Demi remarked.

"Are you saying my place is messy?"

"Duh!"

"I'm just kidding," Fred laughed, "I know it's messy. It's part of its charm."

"That's not how Aunt Angelina puts it," James chuckled.

**The Uisce Faoileoir means 'water glider' in Irish, courtesy of Google Translate ;) Ah, the well-awaited chapter! I sure hope I can live up to expectations I'm sorry for the people who wanted to see Kasia's expectations crash and burn.**

**Also, I hope you lot are dying to know about Calesca and Orion's back-story, because it makes me excited! Even though Kasia will read **_**The Family Name, **_**I'm not going to give anything away in this story. I was thinking of running **_**The Family Name **_**as its own story, alongside Kasia Alexa Days. What do you guys think?**

**Chapter question: What do you all think of Marv, Calesca and Orion? And also your thoughts on me writing **_**The Family Name **_**as well as this?**


	5. How To Deal With Secrets

**Chapter  
-5-  
**

**How To Deal With Secrets**

_Dear Kasia,_

_Thank you so much for making me move here. I desperately needed a change. I got a job with a company researching magical creatures in Africa, so I'll get to go on a couple of awesome trips. The people are really nice, one is actually one of my old mates from Hogwarts. I've caught up with Don and Meaghan, too, which is great. _

_Also, I went to see your mother. I was a coward when I left. It was the most non-Gryffindor thing ever to do. But let me just say that she is not happy now...I may have yelled at her for leaving you at St Mungo's, amongst ... other things. Believe me when I tell you, Ramona used to be very different._

_Anyway, enough about me. How's third year going? Do you like Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures? I know there's a big jump between second and third year, but I'm sure you'll do brilliantly. How are James, Demi and Fred? Let me know if you need anything. Advice, a book, you name it._

_Lots of love,_

_Dad_

"Dad," Kasia repeated, grinning widely. The word still felt unfamiliar on her lips. "Dad."

"Are you alright, Zia?" Demi asked, concerned. After all, Kasia was just saying words in the middle of lunch after reading her father's letter.

"I've never been able to say dad," Kasia mused, "but now I can. I can call him dad."

"It's so great ho−"

Fred interrupted. "Yeah, okay. It's brilliant that Kasia now has a father, but this is urgent."

"You're never going to learn how to be well-mannered, are you?" Demi said, shaking her head. Fred scowled at her.

"Just a wild guess ... you didn't do your homework?" James asked, already seeming to know the answer.

"What do you even _do _when we all do our homework?" Kasia said incredulously.

"_Yes, okay, _we can stop paying me out now," Fred said exasperatedly, pulling out his essay, "and we all know how crabby Sinistra gets about homework. Can I copy yours, Kasia?"

"Actually, I didn't do it."

Silence in the group. Fred's jaw dropped and James dropped a piece of toast.

"What?" Kasia protested. "I've got an excuse."

"Excellent!" Fred cried. "What is it?"

Kasia snorted. "Fred, if you think you can pull off missing the midnight lesson because of the certain lunar circumstances, then sure, you can use my excuse."

Demi and James laughed.

"For a moment there," James chuckled, "I thought you just hadn't done the homework, Kasia. For no reason."

"But of course, that's ridiculous," Demi grinned. Kasia poked her tongue out at them.

"Can I copy yours, James?"

James sighed, and got his essay out. "Sure, but it's pretty basic."

"Yeah, yeah, beggars can't be choosers or something," Fred waved a hand and began writing as the bell went. He swore, and bit his lip.

"Are you alright, mate?" James asked quietly, looking at Fred's clenched fists.

"I'm alright," Fred said tightly, scribbling on the parchment.

"Fred, you owe me," Kasia told him, getting her wand out and muttering a charm that copied the text over to Fred's parchment. "If you want it to look real, you can probably Transfigure the ink or something. It's a good things this isn't homework she'll collect."

He sighed, the tension still present in his eyebrows. "You are a genius."

"Honestly, how do you know all these handy charms?" Demi asked in awe.

"Let alone be able to perform them," James added.

Kasia shrugged. "I borrowed a book over summer. Come on, we should get going."

All through Astronomy Fred was tense and actually listening in class, and afterwards they were walking to the Gryffindor tower when Demi looked around.

"Hey, where did Fred go?"

Kasia looked to see that Demi was right. "He was walking with us, right? He didn't go on ahead?"

James furrowed his brow. "Where would he go? The Gryffindor tower's on the same floor as the Astronomy classroom."

"Maybe he's at the kitchens?" Demi suggested.

"If he's not in the Gryffindor tower, I'll go look for him," James volunteered.

Demi and Kasia discussed their paired Care of Magical Creatures assignment – keeping a Salamander alive for six hours, but at that moment they were still in the research step – until James returned from his dormitory, shaking his head.

"On second thoughts, this is Fred," he said to them reasonably, "I'm sure he's fine. He's probably just snuck off to the kitchens or something."

"What changed your mind?" Kasia asked sharply, and James looked uneasy.

"Nothing. I'm sure he'll be fine, though. Anyway, have you two finished the Herbology homework? I couldn't think of anything else to write about puffapods..."

Kasia and Demi shared a suspicious look, but silently decided to let James drop the subject.

Fred returned half an hour later, and although he seemed fine, Kasia could tell his smile was a little too forced and his jokes a little too sarcastic.

"Where did you disappear off to?" Kasia asked when he sat down.

Fred shrugged. "I was hungry, so I went to the kitchens."

She knew that he wouldn't want to talk about whatever was bothering him, but she didn't expect Demi to resist.

"What's going on, Fred?"

Kasia shot her a look and Demi just rolled her eyes. Fred looked at her defensively.

"What do you mean?" His expression was adamant.

"You just don't seem yourself lately..." Demi trailed off.

"Well, I've been myself," Fred said stubbornly.

"Come on, we know something's wrong," Demi tutted. He narrowed his eyes at the three of them.

"Nothing's wrong," he insisted, "Look, I've got to work on Arithmancy, so just ... don't worry, Demi."

Demi looked taken aback. "It really helps if you talk a−"

"_I said don't worry_!" Fred snapped. "Nothing's wrong, so please shut up."

She pouted and got to work silently on Care of Magical Creatures, while Fred worked studiously on Arithmancy.

Demi and Kasia exchanged surprised looks, and Kasia noticed that James didn't seem to be quite as confused. After they went to their dormitory, Kasia pulled Demi aside.

"Look, I know that Fred's obviously got something on his mind and you're dying to know what," Kasia said quickly, "but I think we should just leave him be."

"What?" Demi said incredulously. "But if he told us we could help him. It's not right having Fred like this."

"I know," Kasia sighed, "but he's not going to want to talk about it, so let's just wait a while."

Demi pouted. "Fine. But I still think it'd be better for him to talk about it to us."

"Good night, Demi."

Later that week Kasia was paired with Trey again for Potions.

"You're a lot better than first year, Kasia," he grinned, "you haven't exploded or melted a potion this entire year."

"_I know!_" Kasia exclaimed, and then lowered her voice. "That was loud."

Trey laughed. "Congratulations. I wish I could say I've improved as much in Charms."

"At least you've improved at Quidditch, right?" Kasia shrugged. "I mean, your team won against us, so you _must _be good."

"We're feeling pretty confident about our match against Ravenclaw too."

"Don't get too cocky."

"Never thought I'd hear a Gryffindor say that," Trey chuckled, and Kasia hit his arm playfully.

"We Gryffindors aren't cocky, we're _proud, _and we're proud because we've got things to be proud of," Kasia explained happily.

"Definitely cocky," Trey nodded.

"I did it again!" Kasia grinned, looking at the completed potion, at then back at Trey with raised eyebrows. "And I'm not cocky about it, I'm proud of it."

"Whatever you say," he said as he rolled his eyes.

"Hey, you know what they say."

He raised an eyebrow. "What do they say?"

Kasia smiled slyly. "That Gryffindor and Slytherin are two sides on the same coin."

"What?!"

"Think about it, the only difference is that Slytherin is slyer where we are prouder."

Trey laughed. "Alright then. Someone obviously put something in your juice this morning, Kasia."

"Come on, do you really think we're that different?"

He laughed again, and then cocked his head to the side. "I guess not. But we aren't exactly definitions of our house, are we? I mean the ideal Gryffindor is brave and noble, the ideal Slytherin is ambitious and cunning, the ideal Hufflepuff is friendly and accepting, and the ideal Ravenclaw is witty and clever. Although we've all got more of our houses' qualities in us, we're all a bit of everything."

"Don't I know it," Kasia muttered.

"What?"

She didn't think he'd hear. "Well, when I was being Sorted, the Hat considered Ravenclaw, Slytherin _and _Gryffindor for me."

"No Hufflepuff in you?" Trey joked.

Kasia laughed. "No, I'm a mean and judgemental person, obviously."

"But then I guess you see what I mean, then? About us all having qualities of all the houses?"

"I'm a prime example, I suppose," Kasia chuckled.

The bell went and Kasia said goodbye to Trey. As they headed up to the Gryffindor tower, Kasia and Demi noticed that Fred was missing again. Kasia mouthed 'later' to Demi.

Later than night, after working on their homework, Kasia looked at James.

"You know what's up with Fred, don't you?"

James looked at her. "No, I don't."

"Then how come you changed your mind about looking for him?" Kasia said with raised eyebrows.

"And how come you and him took a long time to get out of the changing rooms after Quidditch practise?" Demi added.

James sighed. "Don't worry about it, guys."

"We are worried!" Demi pouted. "We're his friends, too."

"We want to know how to make him feel better," Kasia said.

"If you want to make him feel better, then stop pestering him and tip-toeing around him!" James exclaimed. "Let him tell you when he's ready!"

"Why can't you just tell us now?" Demi pleaded.

"Because he told me not to!" he said loudly. "It's not something he's proud of, alright? He'll tell you when he wants to, but there's not much we can do to help. You two keep secrets from me and Fred, don't you?"

Demi and Kasia looked at each other. "Not really."

"Not that I can think of."

James looked surprised. "Well, I suppose you will, because there are some things you'll just want each other to know, and not me and Fred."

Kasia supposed he would be right.

"Alright, but will he ever tell us?"

Demi looked annoyed that Kasia gave up so easily.

"Of course he will. Maybe when it's over. Maybe when he's in the middle of it. Good night."

After James went upstairs, Demi whacked Kasia over the head, who yelped.

"Why'd you give up? We could have gotten it out of him."

"I don't think we could've," Kasia reasoned, "James is one for loyalty; he won't tell us if Fred doesn't want him to."

"But I'm _curious!_ And I want to help him!"

"We may be able to figure it out anyway," Kasia mused, "It's something that will be over, something that might be a guy thing, something that none of us can help him with, something that he doesn't want to be pestered about or tip-toed around. And something he's not proud of."

"Something that really bothers him," Demi added, "I think that's really important. Not much bothers Fred, right?"

"And something that isn't on the seventh floor, since the only place he could have gone after Astronomy before we noticed was downstairs."

"And whatever it was made him pretty worried about his Astronomy homework," Demi pondered, "and he took our jokes pretty personally."

"What did we say, again?" Kasia furrowed her eyebrows, thinking.

"I'm pretty sure I asked if he was ever going to be well-mannered."

"And me and James joked about his homework," Kasia remembered. "So what bothers Fred?"

"He got pretty sentimental about the whole waiting-for-things thing," Demi suggested, "and he was pretty worried about you in first year when you ran off after James found out what you were. Other than that, I don't think I've ever seen him concerned."

"He's pretty serious about Quidditch, right?"

"I would've known if it was Quidditch related," Demi dismissed.

Kasia sighed. "Maybe James is right. We should just wait for Fred to tell us."

Demi looked disappointed. "I suppose that's the right thing to do."

Throughout the month, Fred jumped between his usual self and the quiet, studious and snappy Fred. He went to the library much more often than before.

At the end of February, they were all working on their Potions assignment in the library, which was becoming fuller as the year drew to a close.

"_Stop it!_"

Kasia looked over her shoulder. It was Rose Weasley, and it looked like she was arguing with Scorpius Malfoy. Albus was trying to calm her down.

"Why?"

"You're such a toerag!"

Kasia and Demi exchanged curious looks.

Madam Toots shushed the first years, and they continued their argument quietly.

"What's up with them?" Kasia asked Fred and James.

They shrugged.

"I haven't had a chance to ask Albus."

"_Well it's your fault, Malfoy!_"

"_Are you kidding, Weasley? You _were the one –"

Madam Toots went over to the first years and asked them to leave. Albus got away with it and, after James beckoned, sat with them.

"What's up with them?" James asked him.

Albus groaned. "It all started with Herbology and Malfoy accidently cast _Incendio _on Rose's hair."

"He set _her hair _on fire?" Demi asked incredulously.

Albus nodded. "Yup. I wasn't there, because Ravenclaw and Slytherin have Herbology together, but both Rose told me all about it afterwards. She can't stand him already."

"Are you friends with Scorpius?"

"Yeah," Albus replied, "we were paired up for Defence and he's actually a pretty cool guy. We talked about the Quidditch World Cups, cuz his family goes every time as well. He caught me up on the last one, cuz we _missed _it."

"I will never forgive mum for that," James agreed, narrowing his eyes.

"Yeah, I want to be friends with Scorp _and _Rose, but they hate each other already."

"We know what that's like," Kasia laughed, glancing at Fred and Demi, who looked taken aback.

"We do not hate each other!" Demi insisted. "Right, Fred?"

Fred cracked a smile. "Right. Demi's awesome."

"And Fred's the most hilarious person ever!"

"Totally not hatred," Fred nodded, gesturing between them.

"Definitely not," Demi agreed, beaming. Kasia knew she was trying to make him feel better, but it was strange to see them complimenting each other.

"This is weird," James whispered to Kasia, who nodded with a disturbed expression on her face.

"Well, I suppose we know what it's like to have friends who argue," James clarified for Albus, who looked amused.

"I'd better go find them, though," he said, getting up, "they've probably cursed each other into slugs by now."

After he left, Demi turned to James. "Aren't you worried?"

James snorted. "First years don't know enough curses to turn each other into slugs."

Kasia and Fred laughed.

"That's not what I meant," Demi chuckled.

"They'll work it out," James said dismissively, "so Kasia, how're things with your dad?"

"He says hi to you all," Kasia grinned, "and he's working with a company that researches magical creatures in Africa."

"Damn, that's awesome!" Demi enthused.

"Hey, what about Anelia?" Fred asked. "Where's she in this whole father situation?"

"That's right!" Kasia said. "I forgot to tell you all. She came around and met him a couple of days before school went back, but she didn't tell Ramona."

"What a rebellious Ravenclaw," James laughed.

"Right?" Kasia grinned proudly. "I think she's exchanging letters as well. She's more curious now that she knows he exists. She said she didn't want to get her hopes up before, but now Anelia's realising how much we missed out on by not having a father."

"What about a mother?" Demi asked. "I mean, like, you said that Ramona didn't treat you nicely after you showed signs of being a witch."

Kasia furrowed her eyebrows. "I hadn't really thought about it...I think it's different because I didn't have a father at all before the attack..."

"Don't worry about it," Demi said quickly, "anyway, what did you guys get for the question about the Restoration Potion?"

**I just wrote a future chapter that will be in the last story! It takes place after they graduate, and it makes me excited! That's why it's taken so long for this chapter to go up. Also, I'm sorry it's a little shorter than usual. For this chapter's question:**

_**What do you think was up with Fred?**_

**Also, not many people answered '**_**what do you think Fred will end up being**_**?' So include that too ;)**

**By the way, if you guys are complaining about the wait between chapters, do you know one thing that honestly speeds up the process? Reviews. Legit. Not just reviews saying 'uppdaatteeee plzzzz omggg' ...not that any of you do that ;) but reviews that answer the question and give me some proper feedback **


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